


Little Talks

by misstinamarie



Category: Bones (TV)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Platonic Female/Male Relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-16
Updated: 2015-11-25
Packaged: 2018-04-14 23:47:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4584822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misstinamarie/pseuds/misstinamarie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are some things Brennan can't always tell Booth. She doesn't believe in psychology but she knows Sweets will always listen to her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Unlikely Friend

Temperance Brennan didn’t actually hate her and Agent Booth’s weekly sessions with Dr. Sweets.

Okay, she did, but only because psychology is not an exact science, and no matter how many times Sweets explained it that fact would not change. If not for that, she probably would’ve liked Sweets a lot more a lot sooner. Not that she never did, but she often resented the way he would analyze the words she said, as if the way she paused for a slight second offered some insight into her difficult childhood. It wasn’t necessarily his fault his chosen profession was misguided pseudo-science but it made him harder to like. In the back of her mind, she hated that she didn’t hate their weekly meetings. In fact, the sessions could be quite calming, not that she would ever admit that to anyone.

On occasion she would have lapses. She tried to block out her feelings with work, but sometimes cases would bring her back. A wrist fracture would remind her of a foster dad grabbing her own arm, twisting it too hard causing a sharp pain. No matter how painful it was the most she would do was wince. It seemed the only person who could ever tell the difference was Sweets. One day Booth was a few minutes late for their appointment and Sweets noticed something.

“Dr. Brennan, if you don’t mind me asking, is something on your mind?”

Temperance looked up at him with genuine confusion “What makes you say that?”

“I’ve noticed whenever something is bothering you, you tend to depersonalize, dissociate. You become quiet and withdrawn. I understand, you’ve been in some” he paused “difficult situations in your life. No one can really understand what you’ve been through unless you tell them” he gave her a sympathetic half smile.

Temperance’s cell phone rang. “Brennan.” She gestured toward Sweets. “It’s Booth, he’s finishing up a case report. He’ll be here in a few minutes”

Sweets nodded solemnly “You know, if you ever need to talk, without Booth, we can set something up”

“Having to listen to your psycho-babble once a week is bad enough”                                              

“Then don’t think about this as a session, think about it as a conversation between two colleagues about what’s going on in your life besides work. “

Brennan opened her mouth in protest but Sweets jumped in before she had the chance to.

“Look, I understand your reluctance but just hear me out. And if it doesn’t work out, I’ll buy you lunch at the diner. Deal?”

Brennan grumbled in defeat before Agent Booth walked in and their normal session started.

She reluctantly walked up to Dr. Sweets’ office a few days later after she had closed another murder case. There was a sign on his door stating he had stepped out but would be back in about ten minutes. Temperance carefully folded herself into one of the leather arm chairs she and Booth sat in during their sessions. She thought about how young he was, not that she wasn’t used to seeing young interns, perhaps she was a tad jealous that he seemed to have accomplished so much at twenty two when at the same age she had no idea where she was going. Her younger self would probably be shocked to realize that at thirty she was one of the most, if not the most, reputable forensic scientists in the country.

Sweets looked into his office from down the hall, noticing someone waiting for him to begin meeting. As he walked closer he realized who was in the room, Dr. Brennan, and couldn’t help but smile a little. Dr. Brennan very rarely came out of her shell, he had noted in previous sessions, but when she did it meant she trusted the other party. He couldn’t betray that. Brennan was fragile; she would never let the façade slip behind her carefully constructed boundaries.

“Wow, Dr. Brennan, I’m incredibly surprised you accepted my offer, considering your, well, often noted self-described hatred for the entire field of psychology. I must be frank; I didn’t expect you to show up.”

She shifted in her chair “Don’t think this means I find psychology any more credible because of this.”

“Like I said before, this isn’t a psychotherapy session; this is just two people talking as colleagues. So what’s been bothering you?”

"I just, I often find it hard to tell Agent Booth things about my childhood even though I am fully aware he is capable of listening”

He leaned forward gently “Is it because you’re afraid he won’t understand?” he asked.

Her brow furrowed “Logical reasoning suggests that because of Booth’s own hesitancy towards discussing his own childhood trauma he would understand mine.” Her words were always calculated to reflect the logic that should dictate life, but even she knew that life wasn’t always logical. Not that she would ever admit it to herself.

He paused, assessing the risk in his next statement “Dr. Brennan, you know as well as I do that the reason you haven’t told anyone about your childhood is deeper than logic. Logic can’t explain why people do things to hurt other people”

Temperance knew Dr. Sweets was right. He was right more often than she gave him credit for, after all, the people at the Jeffersonian jokingly referred to him more than once as the “human lie detector”.  She was never quite sure if it was due to years of training or an innate quality. Normally she wouldn’t believe any person could develop talents based merely off of their personality, but Sweets made her question everything.

“Dr. Brennan, I know we’ve only known each other for a few months, but I can understand your situation better than you would expect”

This was not a variable she anticipated. She had miscalculated, assumed that because of Sweets’ young age and impressive academic record that he had had it easy. Out of respect she didn’t ask, but she was still oddly intrigued, but she knew he would tell her in time.


	2. Common Ground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brennan helps Sweets through a tough day, and they figure out they have more in common than they thought

Lance Sweets was initially terrified at the prospect of working for the FBI. The position as a psychologist had opened up only a few months after his parents passed away, and he considered turning it down. Even two years later some days he still had trouble getting out of bed, and even the best psychologists can’t always hide the wheels turning in their head.

It was time for his weekly session with Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth, and after a few too many quips from Agent Booth he started to snap.

“Agent Booth, I gather from our sessions that you assume because of my age I’m not experienced enough to understand the cases you and Dr. Brennan work on. I was top of my class throughout college and high school all while-“He caught himself. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I lost my temper. Maybe we should cut this week’s session short.”

“Sweets, are you alright? You usually aren’t so testy”

“I’m fine, Agent Booth. It’s just been a long day. I think it’d be best if all of us go home and get a good night’s sleep”

Dr. Brennan lingered for a few seconds before getting up. Booth held the door opened for her, but she gestured for him to go on without her. Brennan saw him rub his face with his hands out of the corner of her eye.

“Dr. Sweets, are you alright?” She paused before continuing “This really isn’t my specialty but it appears as though you’re struggling with something”

“I know how difficult this is for you, Dr. Brennan, so I’ll bite.” He sighed “It’s been two years. Since my parents died”

Brennan was taken aback. She hadn’t considered the idea that Sweets did empathize with her own feelings of loneliness and abandonment stemming from her own parents leaving her as a teenager. Sometimes she wished a police officer would come to the door telling her her mother and father had been killed in a car accident, or something of the like, just to know where they were. When she discovered her mother’s remains of course she was distraught but a part of her had been relieved. At least now she knew something. She still loved Max, but the years of worrying whether he was alive or dead still strained their relationship.

“I’m very sorry for your loss. I know how it feels to lose a parent”

“Dr. Brennan, I read your file. You identified your own mother’s remains and found her killer. For most people that would be enough to lead them into a nervous breakdown, I honestly just don’t understand” She couldn’t look in his eyes, but she knew he was trying to hide the tears.

“Quite frankly, I don’t either. I believe I kept hoping that there was even a remote possibility it was someone else.”

“I didn’t have that option. I was there, for both of them, every day they were sick. I don’t expect you to understand that.”

“I don’t really know what to say, but I know Booth would say they know how much you cared for them. However, as a scientist I can say there is no definitive proof of any sort of afterlife”

“Dr. Brennan, what do you believe?” Sweets looked her directly in the eyes, no judgement on his face, just curiosity.

“I believe you have no reason to feel guilty for what you did or did not do while they were alive, but the fact that you still care for them deeply is something they would’ve been proud of”

“Thank you Dr. Brennan. I know how hard it is for you to try and comfort other people. It means a lot”


End file.
